Chapter 683: Like a Monarch or King
As the pontiff’s words echoed out, the island trembled. Numerous temples shook violently. Among them were nine that glowed with bright light. They were organized into a chart of nine stars.
Because of the nine suns shining overhead, the area had already lost its brilliant crimson color. Only Crimson Mother’s mortal husk retained that color, as did the pontiff himself. But now, nine beams of red light appeared. They emerged from those nine temples, and all seemed profoundly ancient. Blood flowed like rivers and baleful auras erupted.
Nine figures emerged.
The first was a four-armed nonhuman. It was impossible to tell if this being was male or female. It was only possible to see that they had long, withered hair, and emanated a sensation of time and rot. Of the nonhuman’s four arms, three were bound and rotting. However, the fourth arm was dark gray and gripped a long spear, the tip of which dripped with blood.
The second figure was human. He wore a blood-colored suit of armor, and inside his armor burned bright red eyes. He also had a long spear in hand.
The rest included humans and nonhumans, and all wore the same armor, which completely covered their bodies and heads. The armor was covered with magical symbols and Crimson Mother totems. Though these newcomers were as red as blood, they imparted a holy sensation.
All of them rode blood-red stallions. The nine stallions were also clad in battle armor, and visible beneath it was crimson muscle, with no skin on it at all. It was as if they had been skinned alive. As they moved forward, they left behind trails of blood. The horses’ eyes were red, and they had sharp fangs. Though they resembled horses, the reality was that they were demonic creatures. And instead of having four legs, they had six.
Nine figures. Nine horses. Their arrival threw the battlefield into a big commotion. The forces of the Red Moon Cathedral were elated, while the Moonrebel cultivators were shocked.
These were the ‘blood guardians’ that the pontiff had summoned. Their cultivation base fluctuations were extremely intense, and as they proceeded forward, they pulsed with mountain-toppling, sea-draining auras. They were clearly on the verge of becoming Smoldering Gods. In fact, you could even say that with half a step, they would enter the Smoldering God level.
When it came to reaching Smoldering God, cultivation base wasn’t the only factor. There were other requirements. That was why, other than the Heir Apparent and his siblings, countless years had passed in the Moonrite Region with Smoldering Gods being as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns .
Even Madam Godfinch’s clone was only half a step into Smoldering God. As for the level of her true self, the details had been lost in history. Currently, the only person to reach Smoldering God was the pontiff. That said, he was a Smoldering God because of blessings and augmentations, which left him with fatal flaws.
As a result, the arrival of the blood guardians was obviously going to have a huge effect on the battle. If they joined, then whatever advantage was brought by the Moonrebel battle souls would crumble.
However, Li Xiaoshan stopped in place, turned, and shot toward the blood guardians. As he did, he ignited himself. That was to say, he didn’t ignite his flesh, but his inner self. As he burned, his facial features transformed. He was no longer old and decrepit. Instead, he was middle-aged, and his aura reached the highest point it had in his life.
“I, Li Xiaoshan, have experienced seven thousand deadly battles. For the first thousand, I fought people in the same level as myself. But later, when I came to understand the essence of slaughter, I fought enemies stronger than me! You blood guardians are all in the same level as me, so I’ll fight you all myself!”
With a roar, he accelerated, turning into nine afterimages, each of which shot toward one of the blood guardians. In the blink of an eye, he arrived. Hoisting his huge saber overhead, he chopped down. As a deafening boom rang out, blood sprayed out of Li Xiaoshan’s mouth. He staggered backward and lurched to a halt. However, the nine blood guardians also stopped in place.
Next, one of the horses shivered as it was split completely in half. The nonhuman mounted on it found his armor splitting and cracking, until it exploded, revealing his fleshly body. His fleshly body couldn’t sustain the force. A red line appeared, which rapidly extended from his head down until... the nonhuman was sliced in half just like his horse. One of the nine temples below suddenly faded and then collapsed. That was how terrifying one of Li Xiaoshan’s saber strikes was.
As Li Xiaoshan wiped the blood from his mouth, his battle spirit grew stronger. As of now, he didn’t care about living or dying. He knew that there was a limit to the Moonrebel Congregation’s resurrection abilities. And he had already passed that limit. But he didn’t care. With the flourish of a saber, he attacked again.
Off to the side, Madam Godfinch’s face remained completely expressionless as she stood atop a sea of fire and raced toward the pontiff.
And yet, there were still more reserve powers at the disposal of the Red Moon Cathedral.
Looking very calm, the pontiff extended his right hand and pushed down toward the ground again.
“Where are the blood generals?”
The ground rumbled. Three distinct areas sank down, and then three ancient temples emerged. Each temple was different, but each gave the sensation of being profoundly ancient. And that was exactly the case. These temples were among the earliest to have been constructed.
When their doors opened, the most ancient of sensations flooded out. Three blood-colored coffins emerged, flew out into midair, and then collapsed, allowing three wizened zombies to step out. A wind blew, and their bodies transformed. In the blink of an eye, they became three old men.
Close examination revealed that, in terms of aura, they were very similar to the pontiff. As their eyes snapped open, they looked at Madam Godfinch.
Madam Godfinch’s expression flickered. Then, the three old men pierced through the air to appear around her. With the wave of their hands, worlds appeared.
As it turned out, they had Smoldering God cultivation bases. However, their major worlds weren’t corporeal. They were illusory, which meant that their battle prowess wasn’t truly in the level of a Smoldering God. That said, they could easily crush all Void-Returning cultivators.
Thankfully, Madam Godfinch was no ordinary individual. Given that she served as the Archbishop of Moonrebel, and had sealed her clone in the Moonrebel Congregation for all this time, it was obvious she had shocking methods at her disposal. She was at a disadvantage fighting these three old men on her own, yet she managed to force them to keep their attention on her alone.
Unfortunately, as the three old men fought, their major worlds gradually crept from being illusory to corporeal. The more they woke up, the more their battle prowess increased, putting the Moonrebel forces into increasing danger.
But even more shocking was that figures were starting to wake up within those major worlds. That provoked a reaction on both sides of the battlefield. The cathedral forces were excited, while the Moonrebel forces trembled in dread.
Deadly fighting was sending out shockwaves in all directions, shaking the entire region, and causing fluctuations to affect sky and land alike.
The cathedral cultivators seemed proud as they unleashed their god magics to crush everything in their path. The cathedral's subsidiary forces were fighting very hard. That included Gloomites and Soundseekers, as well as members of the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect, who used arts of the sacrificial dance as their weapon. Obscuring fog swept over the Moonrebel cultivators, and whoever it touched suddenly stood there with a blank look on their face. Though some awoke, others did not. The Moonrebel Congregation’s advantages were fading away. All they could do was buy time and wait for the battle inside Crimson Mother mortal husk to play out.
Seeing all of that, Xu Qing sent the spirit automaton out to fight the pontiff.
The pontiff had been there for the battle in the Bitter Life Mountains, and was now very wary of dealing with the Moonrebel Congregation. Up to this point, he hadn’t actually launched any attacks of his own. Looking at the spirit automaton, he yet again extended his right hand and pushed down.
Eyes shining with mysterious light, he said, “Blood children, wake up!”
The island rocked back and forth. With the exception of the three ancient temples and the eight remaining red temples, all other temples collapsed and transformed into spinning vortexes. Those vortexes then turned into caves. Looking around the island, there were thousands of caves.
Astonishingly, beams of red light shot out of the caves as a host of bloodbeasts emerged, the very same type that Xu Qing had encountered in the past. They all looked vicious and incomparably fiendish.
Collectively, they transformed into a never-ending sea of beasts. It was almost as if the entire interior of the island was a gigantic cave filled with infinite bloodbeasts. Out in the open, they released vicious howls containing madness, hunger, and greed. Coming from all directions, they joined the fighting.
Everywhere they passed became crimson. As for the forces of the Moonrebel Congregation, they looked on with hearts pounding and eyes grim.
The Captain glanced at the pontiff, then projected a message to Xu Qing.
“Little Ah Qing, this old codger is too cautious. We need to think of a way to draw him over here. Then you can see what I have in store for the damned eye thief!”
Xu Qing nodded. Looking at the never-ending sea of bloodbeasts, his eyes suddenly gleamed with blood-colored light.
He was very familiar with bloodbeasts. It was only a few months ago that he had bred a lot of bloodbeasts. And back when he first met them, he was still in Nascent Soul, yet could use his authority to get many bloodbeasts to drop down in obeisance and acknowledge allegiance to him. Now, his cultivation base was far beyond that level. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate at all to use the red moon authority in him. Instantly, his secret trove appeared behind him.
The eye-catching moon inside of it then flew out to hover directly above Xu Qing. As the moonlight shone down, turning everything red, the bloodbeasts stopped in place and instinctively looked in the direction of the Moonrebel Congregation. They fidgeted impatiently, as if struggling or fearful. It was as if they were looking at the most paramount entity possible to them.
Both sides of the battle were shocked. And for the first time, the pontiff’s expression flickered. He looked in the direction of the Moonrebel Congregation.
As he did, Xu Qing floated out of the Mirror of Moonrebel, like a monarch or king.